A New Therapeutic Target for Leukemia Comes to the Surface

Abstract

Expression of the cell-surface protein CD47 allows some normal cells to avoid phagocytosis by macrophages. In this issue, Jaiswal et al. (2009) and Majeti et al. (2009) show that elevated CD47 expression by leukemic stem cells inhibits macrophage activity and is an indicator of poor prognosis for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.